Not even a Witch
by Inni
Summary: Veronica is abducted by a wicked old hag. Will her friends be able to save her life before it's too late?


**Disclaimer: **None of these characters are owned by me. No copyrighting intended.

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**Not even a Witch**

Chapter 1

Missing

Veronica lay half asleep, curled beside the blazing fire. Owls hooted from the distance and the steady rhythm of Challenger's snores comforted her slightly. Dosing with her eyes open, and knife clutched tightly in her hand had become second nature to Veronica, and from where she lay Malone's face was clearly visible under the light of the fire. He looked so peaceful in his slumber.

The blonde's mind immediately snapped out of her thoughts, when a rustling in the bushes caught her eye. It wasn't until the silhouette of a human shaped figure emerged from the bracken, that Veronica made her move.

With one swift movement of her arm, she thrust her knife at her target. From the blow of the blade piercing his flesh, the intruder was flung back against the shrub behind him as he cried out in pain.

Sensing movement behind her, Veronica turned around, and found herself standing face to face with about ten or so men crouched low in an attacking position.

"Guys wake up...now!" yelled Veronica as the warriors charged toward her. She turned her body slightly, to take the weight of the first attacker over her shoulder, before crashing him to the ground as he fell unconscious. The next two men bounded at her, anger surging through their bodies at what she had just done. She leaped into the air and fired her spin attack, feeding them with a boot in the skull, and another in the jaw.

Gun shots filled the air and the jungle beauty sighed in relief to see that they belonged to Malone, Challenger and Marguerite while Roxton tackled the men on the ground.

It was not long before the group had defeated the warriors and they stood with satisfied smiles as they caught their breaths.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Roxton concerned.

"Hmm..." came the mumbled reply, yet it remained clear that nobody had been seriously injured.

"We'd better get out of here before raptors smell the blood of these guys." stated Veronica, pointing toward the bodies that lay limply on the ground.

"But it's pitch black! We don't know what might be out there at this time of night!" protested Marguerite. She had a point.

"Well have you got any better ideas?"

"Who were those men anyway?" asked Challenger, seeing where the conversation was leading.

"Well they all seem to be wearing uniforms..." observed Malone. He crouched down to examine one of the men more closely. "Look there's a logo, some sort of a crest!"

The group huddled around Ned to see the guard's clothing for themselves. It was black all over except for a blue crest which was embroidered on the breast pocket. In his hand was a sword, which was presumed to be worn at the belt.

"Shh...listen." whispered Veronica, hearing footsteps of raptors approaching. "We'd better get out of here."

Although nobody else could hear a thing, they knew better than to question this maiden's trained ears so they followed her up a small monticule into the safety of a cave. The explorers seated themselves on the hard rocky floor just in time to hear a loud rumble of footsteps as dozens of raptors raced past their cave, toward the grand feast that lay before them.

The rest of the night was spent in the cave. Veronica watched the raptors come and go but apart from that, the rest of the night went along smoothly.

As soon as the sun was up, the group trudged their way to the direction of the treehouse, feasting on berries as they walked. They were only a day away from reaching home and every one of them was looking forward to sleeping in a bed again.

The day wore on as planned without any interruptions. It was an uneventful hike and by the time they reached the treehouse, it was almost dark. The explorers wearily opened the gate to walk toward the elevator, making much great effort as they did so. They were as exhausted as ever and exchanged very few words before finally collapsing onto their own beds.

A cry of agony rang throughout the treehouse. Roxton woke with a start wondering if he had dreamt it. It took him a moment to realize that Veronica's voice had sounded the cry. At this, every bit of sleepiness evaporated from his body and rushed to Veronica's room as quickly as he could, hoping with all his might that the scream was only a fragment of his imagination.

When he reached Veronica's room, he found Malone already there. His face was streaked with tears.

"She's gone!" yelled Malone, too tormented to say much more. He said this just in time to see Marguerite and Challenger burst over the thresh hold.

Roxton looked about the room. A chair in the corner of the room was turned upside-down and a few items were strewn on the floor. There was evidence of a struggle. A man dressed in the same uniform as the night before lay unconscious below the window sill, and Veronica was no where to be seen.

To be continued...

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Thanks for reading so far! A review would be appreciated, and I do have intentions on completing this story. 


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